Sunday, April 26, 2009

Brashear Pulls A Simon

Ghostwalker upped the Brashear hit on Betts, which I embedded below. First Brash took a shove from Cally, who then went to the bench. Then, looking for a target Brash happened upon Bettsy and nailed him in the head as he was coming off his follow through from dumping the puck. Should the league do the right thing and suspend the repeat offender Brashear long-term? Do you think Brash will use the Chris Simon defense - that he was hit first and 'concussed'? Say what you want about Sean Avery's antics, he doesn't attempt to injure - just to annoy.

42 comments:

Honestly this was one of the dirtiest, but most of all most dangerous of the year. What a dick, i mean as a ranger fan i am biased but seriously, if you cant recognize that that hit was dirty, you must be full of shit. If the league does not suspend him, i just dont know, because that was clearly dirty, even capitals fans have to agree.

The impact was created with a shoulder to the chest, not "an elbow to the head". If Betts is "hurt significantly", it's an upper body injury, not a head injury, I can pretty much guarantee you that.

Yes, the hit was late. I certainly wouldn't quibble if he had received a penalty for that, even though we've all seen plenty of hits, just as late, that don't get called. And he did raise his forearm after landing the crushing shoulder check, which may have even caught Betts in the chin. Again, no argument here about possibly getting a 2 min. elbowing call for that.

But to claim this was dirtier than so many other hits we see routinely in the NHL and demand a suspension for it... Well, let me just say, that's a reaction based much more on emotion than objectivity.

Anon - just take a look at what JP said up top. And he is a Caps guy. And you are completely wrong as Schoenfeld said Betts is done with a 'serious' injury. Considering he couldn't hold himself up straight as he was helped off the ice, I would say MAJOR concussion.

Avery's punch to Jurcina's face was exactly that...a punch to his face, that Jurcina was ready for...and in fact goaded Avery into, because Jurcina got in his face. So, let's not try to re-write history or make Jurcina out to be some kind of victim. He wasn't even phased by the "roundhouse fist to the face." Looks like the bandwagoning extends to jumping on the "Avery is the root of all evil" train. Toot Toot. All aboard.

I have listened to the blow-hards on the NHL network call this a "clean hit" with the shoulder, and mitigated it by saying that it was late and Betts was in a vulnerable position. Apparently the network's multi-million dollar editing equipment sucks compared to my POS cable box, because, watching this is slow-mo (and not even in high def) you can clearly see how this hit transpires: Betts clears the puck with his back/right flank to Brash. Brash has not moved towards him yet, as he is in the process of turning around, having just put on the breaks to join the action in Betts' direction. He takes 2 strides and is facing down ice, where the puck went, but then re-directs his angle towards Betts, bends at his knees, squares off his shoulder, and AIMS IT at the face of Blair Betts. Not the body, but the head. He then proceeds to elevate his torso in an upward motion and drives the shoulder up into Betts face, and, as if he hadn't already brutalized Betts, he FOLLOWS THROUGH with his elbow...even Bruce Budreau said that Brash followed though on the hit. The only fuzzy part is whether Brash landed the shoulder before the elbow, but, I don't care if Brash tried to hit Betts with a sack of feathers, he intentionally aimed for the guy's head. So, call it a dirty shoulder, if you insist it was a hit with a shoulder, not an elbow, and then consider the fact that the shoulder wasn't good enough for Brash, the upward motion wasn't good enough for him either, he had to follow through with an uppercut-like elbow. There is nothing clean about this hit.

To see that, and then watch Dubi get 2, 2, and 10 on that boarding call, I have to join in with the fans from this game...these refs suck.

Its the NHL at work again. Last year the officiating was pro-Cindy. This year pro-Ovechkin. We know the NHL wants nothing more than a Wash-Pit conference finals. I can see thru the political bullshit Bettman has pulled for years. Henrik will have to post a donut for us to win this series.

complete cheap shot. the worst part about it is that he (Brash) completely hampers the Rangers PK, and at worst the Caps lose a guy who plays maybe 5 minutes every 3 games. Great trade off. A suspension is just going to be a meaningless gesture. I want blood. Bring me the head of Tom Poti!

this series is a joke... the refs favor the capitals to the point where they decide who wins games...

the worst part about it is that they called a 2,2 and 10 on dubinsky after they didnt call anything on brashear... its come to the point were the nhl is unenjoyable to watch....

if the refs want to give special treatment to star players, fine it happens... but when it comes to the point where people are allowed to hit people 2 seconds late with an elbow (or shoulder) to the head with no called the league is rigged...

and you guys are right... if brashear is suspended what difference does it make... he plays 2 mins a game and has no skill.. hes a big goon.... and we lost our best PK player and someone with a lot of heart...

i have never been so angry, but im to the point where i want blood... i want colton orr to go out there the first play of the game and punch overchkin right in the temple... knock him out of the game and out of the playoffs... ovechkin backstrom semin green.. shit punch boudreau in his face... and can someone PLEASE TAKE GARY BETTMAN'S HEAD AND SHOVE IT UP IERRE MCGUIRE'S ASS.......... my god...I WANT BLOOD AND I WANT A WIN!!!!!

'Scuse me, Pete, but you're obviously confusing Varlamov with Jurcina. Avery swung around full-force and smashed Jurcina in the head right after Jurcina touched up the puck for icing, causing him to fall to the ice with blood dripping from his face. If you don't recognize that as clear intent to injure, then you've got zero credibility.

Also, Rangers fans are all pointing to the exact same video footage shot from ONE angle--behind Betts--which, I'll admit, looks vicious. However, if you see different footage from the side, where you can clearly see the impact of Brashear's shoulder into Betts, you'd realize that it wasn't an "elbow to the head" after all. But, for some reason, nobody wants to show the side angle, they just keep showing the footage shot from behind Betts.

Seriously, guys, if you were to hear fans of another team complain about a conspiracy by the officials to screw their team, wouldn't you roll your eyes just a bit?

I mean, really... You guys seem to forget that NY is one of the largest, most popular sporting venues in the world, so it would actually be good for NHL viewership if the Rangers went deep in the playoffs, especially with Avery in the lineup. People would tune in just to see what kind of whacko thing he does next...

Betts has a broken orbital bone, he's done for the playoffs. That kind of injury doesn't happen with a shoulder hit. Anyone defending Brashear is a moron. The guy should be suspended for 10 games at least.

"Betts has a broken orbital bone, he's done for the playoffs. That kind of injury doesn't happen with a shoulder hit. Anyone defending Brashear is a moron. The guy should be suspended for 10 games at least."

He broke his orbital bone because the hit was so fierce that it completely de-cleated him and he went head first into the ice.

I've seen it happen before during a rugby match. The tackle was late, but a good, crushing hit.

This is just to clarify that YES it can happen with a clean hit. Was it clean? It was late, so no. 1 second earlier and it would have been very clean.

concerning a 10 game suspension: I can say the same about a number of Avery's cheap shots this second season.

there is no defending brash. it was a late hit, it was a hit to the head, and while he may have "tucked" his elbow for the hit, he tucked it way high, then followed through with an uppercut. the guy is a joke and will be sitting for a few games. so then they replace his 2:05 of ice time with nylander or cooke. great.

To anon who commented on camera angles: where do you suggest we watch the hit from? The top of the empire state building perhaps? Maybe from there it'll look clean. It was a late, defenseless cheapshot, from a notorious bafoon. It should have been a 5 min major. Screw the suspension, you guys will be golfing by Wednesday.

"This is just to clarify that YES it can happen with a clean hit. Was it clean? It was late, so no. 1 second earlier and it would have been very clean.

concerning a 10 game suspension: I can say the same about a number of Avery's cheap shots this second season."

1 second earlier and it still would have been a hit to the head with intent injure. Oh, and stop worrying about Avery's antics. He actually gets penalties when he does bone headed things. And sometimes when he does nothing.

Nope, I don't read minds, I observe actions. I've seen enough of Don Brashear's "highlight" reel to know that he loves to hit high and hard and always on the cheap. I wish I could find a site that kept record of how many penalties Brash has been given, and breaks it down by category. It might be interesting to also compare how many people have been injured by Don Brashear versus someone like Sean Avery.

I know thes an extremely 'shallow' look at the impact of that hit, but its simple to see that the Brashear hit clearly impacted the game and it makes it even worse that he shouldnt have been allowed ot play at all.

rangers have nobody to blame but themselves IF they lose this series. that is a big if though, as game 7 is going to be the toughest of the series.

RE: Brashear - it was late, it was up high, but it WASN'T an elbow. he should be suspended, especially upon finding out Betts broke his orbital bone. Brash is a just a large man. Betts was in a bad position and Brashear took advantage of that. it's definitely a suspendable hit, but it's not like we haven't seen worse in the playoffs (tie domi, chris pronger) and not seen anything close to a 6 game suspension. Pronger got suspended 2 separate times in the same playoffs and only got one game each time.

The same standard is not held throughout the entire league. Brash was an idiot and should have been suspended, but i think the 5 games for the hit was too much. just my opinion.

How is it that animals like Link Gaetz were ran out of the league and guys like Donald Brashear were allowed to stay? Because Brash could skate a little better?

But as for this series, the officiating has been poor and the Ranger power play has been worse. But I absolutely have to agree with Ben that "rangers have nobody to blame but themselves IF they lose this series."

OK, I came back to admit I was wrong about the injury being upper body and not to the head. But I was also correct in saying that the hit was NOT an elbow, like all the Rangers' fans have been saying. As I mentioned before, if you watch it from an angle where you can actually see the point of impact (a side view of both players) and not the much publicized view from behind Betts' back, you'd know that it was a shoulder, which is what the league determined.

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but Avery is a pretty small guy. He's physically incapable of doing the same kind of damage that a big guy can do, so tallying up how many players each guy has injured has absolutely nothing to do with intent or "dirtiness." If Brashear had inflicted the same roundhouse punch with the butt end of his stick that Avery did to Jurcina's face, it would have beena horrendous sight.

I have no problem with a suspension of some kind for Brashear, but the league needs to be consistent with this sort of thing. Their rationale behind this seems pretty arbitrary.

First of all, this is a sport that basically encourages players to beat each other's heads in and slam into each other at breakneck speeds. But then they also expect them to make sure their shoulders don't hit somebody too high, catch a player unaware, or cause too much damage?

The league determined that it was a shoulder that created the impact, not an elbow like everybody's been saying. A shoulder check is legal. He didn't blind-side Betts; they were clearly facing each other when it happened. So, the only thing remotely "illegal" about the hit--if we go by the book and leave out any emotional reaction to it--was that it was late. But I think we've all seen plenty of hits that occur just as late and don't get penalized or result in a suspension.

So, what kind of standard is being applied here? How severely a player gets injured? If that's the case, bigger, stronger players are handicapped because of their size and are forced to play the game much more cautiously while smaller players can just fly around at full speed.

The NHL might as well just divide itself into several different weight divisions...

Betts was definitely blind-sided. The only reason he was "facing" Brashear was because he was mid pivot, and the only thing Betts saw coming was a weird looking eagle about 5 inches from his eye socket.

And regarding the whole issue of size mitigating and/or excusing hits that result in injury, how is it then that Zedeno Chara has managed to not kill anyone in this league, being the largest man in it? Maybe because he knows the difference between playing hard, in your face hockey, or just getting your jollies by trying to hurt people.

Also... You can't have it both ways. Either the hit was late OR he was blind-sided. If Betts was in mid-pivot after just dumping the puck in, then the hit wasn't late, it was immediate. If the hit was late, he wasn't in mid-pivot.

The suggestion that a hit can't be both late and be a blind-side is retarded. If I don't have the puck, and you hit me, the hit is late. If I'm not facing you and I'm not expecting to be hit, I was blindsided. Betts was both. Hello!!! McFly!!!

I guess you didn't actually watch the play, then, "retard". Betts had just dumped the puck in, then he took a small stride towards the bench when he got hit. Obviously, he was facing Brashear at the time of impact, otherwise the injury wouldn't be to the FRONT of his head.

Admit it, if Semin had dished out the exact same hit under the exact same circumstances, Betts probably wouldn't be injured and there wouldn't be this huge uproar about it. The only difference is, Brashear is a much bigger guy who packs a much bigger wallop.

If Colton Orr had done the same thing to a Caps player, most of you would be singing a much different tune, I suspect.

What game was that idiot watching? Obviously blair was blind sideded. I don't think the half a step that blair took as he was turning around to go to the bench could be considered a stride, nor could it be considered "facing" that animal.

Yeah, you're right...Betts only got hurt because Brashear is a "big guy." Too big for all the girlie men to handle. He's an unstoppable force. An immovable object. He's huge. They are looking to sign him over to every team, because of his sheer size. He's like Andre the Giant, come back from the dead. It isn't his fault if the weaklings on the other hockey teams can't handle the raw power of his brute strength. He's like, Lenny from "Of Mice and Men" He just doesn't know any better. A misunderstood gentle giant. You convinced us all. I can't believe the league doesn't see it your way. I can't believe the rest of the Rangers fans don't either. I'd write more, but I have to go get ready for St. Brashear's Day. I have to go bulk up and then hurt people, through no fault of my own.

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